Liverpool’s Lovren lifts lid on Klopp’s unusual half-time team talk

Joe Williams
Dejan Lovren Jurgen Klopp Liverpool

Jurgen Klopp delivered an unusual half-time team talk against Tottenham by telling his Liverpool players that he was “satisfied” with losing 1-0.

Spurs striker Harry Kane reacted fastest when Son Heung-min’s deflected shot hit the post to head the visitors in front after 47 seconds, but for the rest of the first-half, the Reds were on top including one spell of around 10 minutes of unrelenting pressure.

Klopp’s men were unable to find the equaliser before the break but did end up winning 2-1 after Jordan Henderson’s goal and Mo Salah’s penalty and, speaking to Liverpool’s official website, Lovren revealed that Klopp had faith in his players to turn the game around.

“We knew it would be a tough game, even though they didn’t have brilliant results in the last couple of games,” the centre-back said.

“We knew it would be tough and unfortunately they scored in the first minute, but we kept our nerve, played our game and we had many chances.

“We came in at half-time and the boss said: ‘Usually I never say this, but I am satisfied even though we are 1-0 down. But we need to continue like that and keep our nerve’.

“We knew we would have another chance and we did it. It’s a massive, massive win.”

Lovren added that he was happy with how his side performed overall, saying: “I’m happy for Hendo, he deserved that. And, especially for the three points, Sadio – it was a great run from him [to win the penalty].

“Overall, we’re quite happy. Let’s just now recover well, sleep well and eat well because we have a game every three days. So, just be calm with our heads and everything will be OK.”